How a Smaller Georgia Agency Plays with the Big Boys

This is the David versus Goliath story of how the Mallory Agency, a small independent insurance agency in LaGrange, Georgia, has faced off against bigger agencies and won. Its weapons: “face time,” professional training, and smart, not big budget, marketing.

In business for 100 years, the Mallory Agency has made a name for itself with a focus on workers’ compensation that emphasizes consulting and claims management, assisting injured employees in returning to work in minimal time, and driving down workers’ compensation costs.

With only 10 employees, the Mallory Agency has had to leap over some much larger agencies and hurdles — some real, some perceived — to do it.

Matt Mallory, who became the fourth generation of the family to get involved when he joined the agency in 2007 as vice president, says one of the biggest hurdles for a smaller agency is overcoming the “perception is reality” issue.

“It’s a constant struggle when you’re trying to gain recognition statewide and regionally because a lot of businesses are quick to write you off because of your size,” says Mallory. “It’s frustrating because they are dealing with false assumptions. So you need to be bold and develop a tough skin, and sometimes revisit your selling skills to gain their trust.”

According to Mallory, another misconception is that smaller agencies have to be generalists, handling anything that comes along. But the plan of the Mallory Agency is to be a specialist, focusing on specific industries, including restaurants, healthcare, wholesale, contractors, garage operations and technology.

Mallory is on the road at least three times a week, meeting with new clients and giving others the personal service they may not get from big agencies.

“There was an account in Atlanta that had used one of the larger agencies, and they never once visited the company, not even a phone call or an email,” says Mallory. “We were able to get them to come over to us because we made them feel comfortable by giving them ‘face time,’ something a lot of agencies fail to do because they use today’s technology as a servicing tool.”

The Holiday Inn Express in LaGrange, where Chris Dekmar is general manager, has had the Mallory Agency handled its workers’ compensation for its 20 employees for the last three years. Dekmar formerly used a much larger agency.

“We had worked with one of the bigger agencies because I thought that was the only way to get the best rates,” says Dekmar. “The problem was there was no ‘face’ and whenever I called I never got the same person twice. I knew Matt Mallory from the local Chamber of Commerce, and when it was time for me to renew I gave him a call. He checks in with me all the time and when I need help I don’t have to track him down. It’s been a great three years.”

Joe Lacefield, who owns two Domino’s Pizza franchises in the LaGrange area, says he, too, had problems with his former agency. “It was frustrating because they never called me back,” says Lacefield. “I like working with someone local because you can actually get in touch with them, when you need them.”

According to Mallory, dealing with local and regional businesses allows him to hear things that the big agencies miss. A lot of what he hears is frustration.

“I knew of a local auto dealer that had a big account with a direct writer and was getting aggravated that every time he contacted them, it was just another voice and not someone who knew his account,” says Mallory. “I had lunch with him one day and was able to secure the account. He said to me, ‘I wish I had come to you sooner. I’d be a lot happier right now.'”

Mallory’s marketing budget is significantly smaller than the big boys’ budgets. He can’t afford a commercial during the Super Bowl. The agency does some mass mailings and publishes a newsletter on its website. But the rest of the marketing is more personal.

“We make sure to get out of the office, meet people, smile a lot and shake a lot of hands. After I meet with someone, I send them a handwritten note, thanking them for their time.”

Mallory knows that unless he can deliver on what he promises, all the handwritten notes in the world aren’t going to keep a client. To accomplish that mission, he has put together a team of professionals trained by the Institute of WorkComp Professionals (IWCP) that trains people in helping clients keep costs down.

He points to the example of a local fence company that saw its costs shooting up. Mallory’s team discovered that there were errors in both the company’s recent audit and in the classification codes. First, they discovered that an open claim on a driver was incorrectly reported; it was listed as $22,000, when it should have been $12,000. The clerical mistake was negatively affecting the firm’s experience modification factor.

Second, the problem was also compounded by a number of misclassifications, including a delivery driver classified as a contractor setting up the fencing (a much higher classification), and the company president’s salary being incorrectly included in the payroll figures. By correcting the mistakes, the Mallory Agency saved its client $4,500.

Mallory believes small agencies can compete against bigger agencies but many do not because they spend too much time coming up with reasons why they can’t compete: “I have no budget;” “I have no staff;” “I have no resources.”

Mallory’s answer to the objections is simple: “Quit making excuses. Ask yourself how badly do you want to increase your revenue, then go out and make it happen.”

Topics Agencies Workers' Compensation Georgia